Key project updates

Status

Iron Ore: Pilbara brownfields

Over the medium term, our Pilbara system capacity remains between 345 and 360 million tonnes per year. Meeting this range, and the planned product mix, will require the approval and delivery of the next tranche of replacement mines over the next five years.

We continue to work closely with local communities, Traditional Owners and governments to progress approvals for these new mining projects. We continue to advance our next tranche of Pilbara mine replacement studies at Hope Downs 1 (Hope Downs 2 and Bedded Hilltop), Brockman 4 (Brockman Syncline 1), Greater Nammuldi and West Angelas. Funding for the full execution of the Brockman 4 project was obtained in fourth quarter of 2024. Early works and design are underway for the Brockman 4 and Hope Downs 1 projects.

Environmental and heritage approvals are progressing and timelines remain subject to receiving these approvals. The Greater Nammuldi project continues to progress at a rate behind the original development schedule.

Iron Ore: Rhodes Ridge

In October 2022, Rio Tinto (50%) and Wright Prospecting Pty Ltd (50%) agreed to modernise the joint venture covering the Rhodes Ridge project in the Eastern Pilbara, providing a pathway for development utilising Rio Tinto’s rail, port and power infrastructure.

In December 2023, we announced approval of a $77 million pre-feasibility study (PFS). The PFS continues to progress with good engagement with Traditional Owners and government. The PFS, which is targeting an initial capacity of up to 40 million tonnes per year, subject to relevant approvals, remains on track to be completed in 2025. First ore is expected by the end of the decade.

Longer term, the resource could support a world-class mining hub with a potential capacity of more than 100 million tonnes of high-quality iron ore a year.

Lithium: Jadar

Development of the greenfield Jadar lithium-borates project in Serbia will include an underground mine with associated infrastructure and equipment, as well as a beneficiation chemical processing plant.

The Board committed funding in July 2021, subject to receiving all relevant approvals, permits and licences. The studies and capital estimates will need to be updated before project approval.

On 16 July 2024, the Constitutional Court of Serbia issued a decision stating the 2022

decree by the Government of Serbia to abolish the Jadar project spatial plan was unconstitutional and illegal. Subsequently, the Government of Serbia has reinstated the spatial plan to its previously adopted form. Following the decisions, we have continued to focus on consultation with all key stakeholders, including providing comprehensive factual information about the project. The application process for obtaining the Exploitation Field Licence (EFL) continued during the fourth quarter of 2024. The EFL is essential for commencing fieldwork, including detailed geotechnical investigations, while cultural heritage and environmental surveys have resumed. The Environmental Impact Assessment process for the scoping and content for the mine progressed through the public consultation phase. This step includes legally mandated consultations, which the project supports, to encourage an open, fact-based dialogue.

Mineral Sands: Zulti South

Development of the Zulti South project at Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) in South Africa (Rio Tinto 74%).

Approved in April 2019 to underpin RBM’s supply of zircon and ilmenite over the life of the mine. The project remains on indefinite suspension, while a feasibility study refresh is underway.

Copper: Resolution

The Resolution Copper project is a proposed underground copper mine in the Copper Triangle, in Arizona, US (Rio Tinto 55%).

We continue to await a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court on the petition filed by the Apache Stronghold requesting to hear its case to stop the land exchange between Resolution Copper and the federal government. Separately the Supreme Court denied a petition from the San Carlos Apache Tribe, asking the Court to review a decision by the Arizona Supreme Court regarding a water discharge permit issued to Resolution Copper. We continue to progress the Final Environmental Impact Statement with the United States Forest Service, however they have yet to advise on the date of republication. We also advanced partnership discussions with several federally-recognised Native American Tribes. While there is significant local support for the project, we respect the views of groups who oppose it and will continue our efforts to address and mitigate concerns.

Copper: Winu

In late 2017, we discovered copper-gold mineralisation at the Winu project in the Paterson Province in Western Australia. In 2021, we reported our first Indicated Mineral Resource. The pathway remains subject to regulatory and other required approvals.

In December 2024, we signed a Term Sheet with Sumitomo Metal Mining for a Joint Venture to deliver the project. A pre-feasibility study with an initial development of processing capacity of up to 10 million tonnes per year is expected to be completed in 2025, along with the submission of an Environmental Review Document under the EPA Environmental Impact Assessment process. Project Agreement negotiations with Nyangumarta and the Martu Traditional Owner Groups remain our priority.

Copper: La Granja

In August 2023, we completed a transaction to form a joint venture with First Quantum Minerals (FQM) that will work to unlock the development of the La Granja project in Peru, one of the largest undeveloped copper deposits in the world, with potential to be a large, long-life operation.

FQM acquired a 55% stake for $105 million and will invest up to a further $546 million into the joint venture to sole fund capital and operational costs to take the project through a feasibility study and toward development. All subsequent expenditures will be applied on a pro-rata basis in line with shared ownership. FQM is currently progressing community engagement and engineering studies.

Aluminium: ELYSIS

ELYSIS, our joint venture with Alcoa, supported by Apple, the Government of Canada and the Government of Quebec, is developing a breakthrough inert anode technology that eliminates all direct greenhouse gases from the aluminium smelting process.

We will install carbon free aluminium smelting cells at our Arvida smelter in Quebec using the first technology licence issued by the ELYSIS joint venture. We will design, engineer and build a demonstration plant equipped with ten pots operating at 100 kiloamperes (kA), for a total investment of $285 million (Rio Tinto $179 million, Government of Quebec $106 million). The plant will have an annual capacity of 2,500 tonnes of commercial quality aluminium, with first production targeted by 2027.

The joint venture is continuing its R&D program to scale up the ELYSIS^TM technology. It has begun commissioning the larger prototype 450 kA cells at the Alma smelter, with the start-up sequence set to begin in 2025 (previously 2024).